Patriots Day in Massachusetts: Boston Marathon 2015

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BOSTON -- Runners are facing a wet, windy, and raw day for the 119th running of the Boston Marathon as they travel from Hopkinton to the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street.

Security is tight at the athletes village and all along the course. Police are patrolling the area with bomb-sniffing dogs. Authorities say more than 3,000 officers — uniformed and undercover — have been deployed for today's marathon.

Men's runners: Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia has won the 119th Boston Marathon in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 17 seconds. It's his second victory here. He also won the 2013 race just hours before a pair of bombs exploded at the finish line. Desisa returned after the attacks to donate his medal to the city in memory of the victims.

Women's runners: Caroline Rotich has won the women's race in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 55 seconds. It's the first Boston victory for the 30-year-old Kenyan. She finished fourth here in 2011. Rotich outsprinted Ethiopians Mare Dibaba and Buzunesh Deba down Boylston Street to win by four seconds. American Desiree Linden finished fourth.

Men's wheelchair: Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men's wheelchair race. It took him 1:29:53 for his first Boston win. The 28-year-old finished fourth last year. Hug deprived Ernst Van Dyk of his 11th Boston Marathon victory. He's already the most decorated Boston competitor with 10 titles.

Women's wheelchair: American Tatyana McFadden has won her third straight women's wheelchair race. McFadden rolled down Boylston Street to finish in an unofficial 1 hour, 52 minutes, 54 seconds. McFadden wore a singlet in memory of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who was killed in the 2013 finish line bombing. The 25-year-old is a four-time Paralympian and also the reigning champion of the Chicago, New York City and London marathons. She also finished second in the 1 kilometer Nordic skiing sprint in the 2014 Paralympics.

Other runners are honoring victims of the bombing. "I ran last year and had never run a marathon before. It was a reason I had run before. I'm running for the Martin Richard Foundation. Martin Richard was the boy that was killed a couple years ago in the bombings and was scene holding the sign no more hurting people, peace happened to be a student of mine and so when they started the foundation and started the team, I had to run," said Nikolas Franks.

Here is a timeline of events related to the marathon:

April 21, 2014 - The 118th Boston Marathon takes place. The winners are: Meb Keflezighi of the U.S. in the men's division and Rita Jeptoo of Kenya in the women's division.

Facts: The race's organizer is the Boston Athletic Association and its principal sponsor is John Hancock Financial Services.

Runners are categorized by gender, then by age. The age categories are: Men's and Women's Open (age 18-39), Masters (40-49), Veterans (50-59), Seniors (60-69), and 70 & Over. Qualifying times depend on the age of the participant on the day of the race.

Visually impaired participants are allowed, but must have a five hour qualifying time. There are also categories for wheelchairs and handcycles.

Runners come from all over the world to participate.

Participants must be 18 years of age on the day of the race and must meet certain time standards to qualify for their age group.

Timeline: April 19, 1897 - The first marathon is run and is 24.8 miles. The winner is John J. McDermott of New York, and his time is 2:55:10. There are 18 entrants, 15 starters, and 10 finishers.

1897-1968 - The race is run on April 19, Patriots' Day, a holiday commemorating the start of the Revolutionary War only recognized in Massachusetts and Maine. In those years that April 19 falls on a Sunday, the race is held the next day, Monday the 20th.

1918 - A military relay is held instead of the marathon due to the United States involvement in World War I.

April 19, 1924 - The race is lengthened to 26.2 miles to conform to Olympic standards.

April 17, 1967 - Kathrine Switzer becomes the first woman to receive a number to run in the Boston Marathon. She enters the race under the name K.V. Switzer and wears baggy clothes to disguise herself. Females are not officially allowed to enter until 1972.

1969 - Patriots' Day is changed to the third Monday in April, so the date of the race changes too.

1975 - A wheelchair division is added to the marathon. Bob Hall finishes the race in two hours and 58 minutes in a wheelchair.

April 15, 1996 - The 100th Boston Marathon is run. There are a record 35,868 finishers.

April 15, 2013 - Two bombs explode near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 180 people.

April 8, 2015 - Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is convicted on all 30 charges against him, and is found responsible for the deaths of Krystle Campbell, Martin Richard, Lingzi Lu and Sean Collier.